Why feed linseed to horses

Shop Log in. Tack room Log in. My Account. No products in the basket. Learn more about our intelligent bags. Making feeding easy. Pure Linseed. See below for prices for higher volumes.

High oil content which promotes coat condition and shine. High in protein to help build topline. A rich source of slow-release calories to encourage weight gain. Using linseed as a mash There can be around 50 litres of water in the digestive system but this is significantly influenced by diet.

What are essential fatty acids? Essential fatty acids include chains of carbon atoms joined together; long chains contain 12 or more carbon atoms. The bonds that join the carbon atoms are either single or double bonds A fatty acid containing only single bonds is a saturated fatty acid A polyunsaturated fatty acid contains more than one double bond.

Fatty acids are incorporated into a number of tissues in the body including the brain. Cell membranes contain fatty acids and it tends to follow that the proportions of fatty acids consumed in the diet are incorporated into cell membranes in the same ratios.

The fatty acids in cell membranes can be released and transformed into chemical messengers such as prostaglandins and thromboxanes. If omega 6 are converted to these substances they create pro-inflammatory prostaglandins whereas omega 3 create anti-inflammatory ones. Turmeric for horses Believed to have medical properties, turmeric is becoming more popular in its use for horses.

This site uses cookies: Read more about our use of cookies. OK I understand, thank you. They are the counter-regulatory substance of inflammation and immune reaction — in other words they have the ability to control inflammation. Omega 3 deficiency in humans is implicated in many problems from compromised foetal brain development to heart conditions, cancer and arthritis. Deficiency usually results from a lack of proper nutritional intake — for example diets low in fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains and quality sources of naturally-grown meat and eggs.

Green grass has an Omega 3 to 6 ratio of about but when cured as hay, the Omega 3 content is all but lost. One study found that when grass is dried for hay and stored for only days, it loses — on average — The study showed the Omega 6 content in the hay remained stable. But even if the horse is on grass, high grain diets such as corn, barley, sunflower seeds, bran and seed meals such as soybean, or vegetable oils, can also cause deficiency symptoms.

A relevant example of this ratio difference in common feedstuffs shows up when comparing the Omega 3 to 6 balance of linseed oil to sunflower oil. In horses, deficiency of both Omega-3 and Omega-6 has a negative impact on immune function such as antibody formation. And as discussed above, Omega-3 deficiency also decreases the ability to control inflammatory reactions. Several equine nutrition studies have shown some very positive effects of supplementing with Omega-3 fatty acids. Some confusion exists around linseed because there are two names for the high-fat seeds: linseed and flaxseed flax.

If you do a search on flax, you may find a lot more information because it is the more common term these days. There are two varieties, golden and brown, and both have virtually the same nutritional profile, including almost identical amounts of omega-3 fatty acids. Brown flax is usually fed to horses. The virtues of flax stem from the high fat content and the type of fatty acids that make up that fat, as well as the high soluble fiber content.

Flax is high in omega-3 fatty acids, which are essential to the horse and responsible for improving cellular integrity and balancing inflammatory response in the body. Flax is chock-full of soluble fiber that not only supplies energy to the horse but also has mucins that have a beneficial effect on gastrointestinal function. The seeds can be fed whole and mixed into horse feed but are best if ground immediately before feeding.